As the number and variety of services available on the Internet increases, it is not surprising that the number of residential users having Internet access via an Internet service provider (ISP) is increasing accordingly. Meanwhile, these same users continue to have traditional entertainment viewing needs. Typically, such needs have been satisfied by broadcast, satellite and cable television systems, which operate independently of a given user's Internet connection and thus require an independent configuration process to be executed by the user when a particular entertainment product is desired. Clearly, this is an inconvenience for the user, not the least of which is the need to establish and maintain a separate financial relationship with the entertainment service provider.
On the other hand, there has been an increase in the number of entertainment services available directly from the Internet. Thus, some users have supplemented or even supplanted their traditional entertainment service provider in favour of Internet-based entertainment services. However, this approach poses technological problems of its own arising from a lack of prioritization on the connection to the ISP. Furthermore, from a content owner's point of view, there may be a reluctance to allow copyrighted digital content to be distributed via the Internet, where it is readily pirated upon being downloaded onto a computer. This contributes to stunting the rate at which proprietary entertainment content is becoming available via the Internet.
From the above, it is clear that there exists a need in the industry to improve the delivery of broadband services to residential users.